No. 2: “Leaderless” movements don’t cut it, as the Arab Spring (and, he could have mentioned, the Occupy movement) have demonstrated. Neither does simply relying on a Facebook page.

“Popular uprisings can overthrow dictators, but they’re only successful afterward if opposition forces have a plan and can execute it,” Schmidt and co-author Jared Cohen, director of Google Ideas, write in an essay adapted from their book, “The New Digital Age: Reshaping the Future of People, Nations and Business.”

No. 3: Digital revolutionaries have to make the transition “from protest to politics.” Schmidt cites the critical comments of an Egyptian blogger and one-time spokesman for the country’s anti-regime movement.

“If you are a revolutionary, show us your capabilities. Start something. Join a party. Build an institution. Solve a real problem. Do something except running around from demonstration to march to sit-in. This is not street work: real street work means moving the street, not moving in the street.”

Words to the wise, though whether Schmidt, who recently returned from North Korea, is allowed back there anytime soon may be in doubt.